Paul Laurence Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask"

Today’s poem is by Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906), an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries . . . Dunbar became the first African-American poet to earn national distinction and acceptance. The New York Times called him "a true singer of the people – white or black."[35] Frederick Douglass once referred to Dunbar as, "one of the sweetest songsters his race has produced and a man of whom [he hoped] great things."[36]

Bio via Wikipedia

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